


What Family Means

by StarsInANightSky (orphan_account)



Series: Me writing shit about Jay and Cole, because i ship Lego bricks i guess [17]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Kidfic, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, Mpreg, Past Mpreg, jay loves his daughter and would kill for her, mentions of past rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-27 20:53:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/StarsInANightSky
Summary: Jay has a child from a past (abusive) relationship, and he’s kept her very hidden from the ninja, afraid of enemies finding out about her, hurting her. Things get complicated when Cole confesses his attraction to Jay, especially considering the feeling is mutual.





	What Family Means

Anguish had been the only emotion Jay had registered when he’d found out. Staring at those two lines, his entire world imploded.  
He had to leave.  
That was number one. No way could he raise a baby in this situation. That in itself presented a problem. Jay’s internal struggle over how - or even whether - to break up with Taylor has plagued him. Jay loved him. After everything he’d done, Jay loved him.  
Of course, he shouldn’t. Not when he has bruises blemishing his body, not when he’s scared to even speak, just in case Taylor doesn’t like what he has to say.  
But Jay doesn’t want Taylor anywhere near the baby. No matter how hard it was, Jay had to prioritise that over any fear he had. He would go to the police then. File a restraining order. And hide out at his parents’.  
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had this plan in his head. He’d been stockpiling evidence, ever since he’d realised that Taylor wasn’t going to stop hurting him. But by then, the seed of terror had already been planted, and Jay felt too weak, too worthless to leave.  
He didn’t have a choice. If he wanted this baby to have any semblance of safety, he had to be quick. He had to get out, and never look back.

That in itself had been a struggle. Jay wrenched the words from his throat, a small bag packed over his shoulder, not giving Taylor a glance.  
“We’re breaking - we’re breaking up.”  
Taylor has stood. Lovely, handsome Taylor. And his voice had been so soft.  
“What? Babe, I promise, I’ll get better. I don’t want you to leave. C’mon sweetheart, we can work this out. I swear.”  
“No. I’m leaving.” But already Jay was second guessing himself, his parents might not want him back, not after he’d stormed out on them when they’d expressed doubts about Taylor. Taylor could change, maybe, maybe if he knew about the baby, Taylor might stop.  
The baby.  
Taylor won’t stop. Taylor wasn’t going to stop hurting Jay.  
“Babe. Please. Sweetheart.”  
“I’m - I - Restraining order.” Jay felt almost obligated to tell Taylor that much.  
“What?” There it was. The darker voice, the one that Taylor used when he got angry, the one that wasn’t fucking safe.  
“You - police... I don’t - not safe.” Jay was quickly forgetting how to speak, the panic squeezing him tight.  
“Jay. You know that without me, no one will ever fucking look at you, right? You know that I love you so much, more than anyone ever could. More than anyone ever would. Do you even have a plan Jay? What will you do once you’re out that’s door?”  
“That’s not your business.” Jay needed to be strong. His hand grasped the doorknob, desperately trying to open it, despite his shaking hands.  
Taylor slammed his palm down, holding the door shut.  
“Jay. You’re being ridiculous. Go put your stuff back in our room.”  
“No. Let me go.”  
“Jay, I’m not asking, I’m telling. I know what’s best for you.”  
“No, no, you don’t, you don’t.” Jay pulled at the door, desperate to overpower Taylor just this once.  
“Jay. Put the bag down.”  
Jay was getting increasingly overwhelmed. He felt his fingertips heat up, his palms itched, everything felt hypersensitive.  
Jay recognised this feeling. It had only happened twice before. Now, Jay was welcomed it. It might be his only shot.  
Jay turned, and stared at Taylor.  
His boyfriend - his ex boyfriend - glared at him.  
And the feeling exploded. Jay didn’t know where the lightning came from, he didn’t know how to control it, he didn’t know how or why he was capable of this. But for once, Jay wasn’t afraid of the blue sparks. They were protecting him.  
As Taylor reeled, Jay shot out the door.

His mother had started crying the second Jay stepped foot back in the junkyard. She ran forward, embracing him tightly.  
“My boy. My lovely boy. You’re home.”  
Jay nodded. As time with Taylor had gone on, Jay felt more and more guilty storming out.  
“I’m sorry. He - Taylor - I’m sorry.”  
Edna glanced at the marks covering Jay’s arms.  
“It’s not your fault Jay. It was never your fault.”  
And Jay was crying too.  
“I should never have... he- I’m pregnant.” Jay choked it out.  
Edna clasped him tight, soon joined by his father, Ed running a hand along Jay’s back.  
“You’re 16.” Edna mumbled.  
“I know. I know. But I don’t - I don’t think I could handle an abortion.”  
“It’s okay. We’ll help you.” Ed hugged Jay too.  
And Jay let everything spill out, talking between gasping breaths, apologies for leaving and panicked whimpers flooding out in the masses.

He was 18 when Sensei Wu walked into the junkyard. Jay had looked up from his tinkering to double check on Violet, before glancing at the entrance.  
“Mom! We have a visitor!” Jay called.  
The old man approached, beard tousled.  
“This is a nice place.” He mumbled. “Very lively.”  
“I know a thinly veiled insult when I hear one.” Jay grunted. “I get it. It’s a junkyard. It’s quite a cool home, actually.”  
“Jay. It was not meant to be an insult.”  
Jay’s eyes darted upwards.  
“You know me?”  
The stranger nodded, glancing at Jay’s daughter, who was currently bashing a toy wrench against a building block. Jay stepped in front of her instinctively.  
“You know my parents? They should be out in a minute.”  
“No. I’m here for you.”  
Jay tensed up, folding his arms over himself.  
“Why?”  
“You know full well normal humans can’t do what you can. Your power is rather immense, at least it could be if you knew how to control it.”  
“I - I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The last time it had happened was when he left Taylor. Over a year.  
“Ninjago is in danger. I’m curating a team to help save it.”  
“That’s nothing to do with me.”  
“You live in Ninjago do you not?”  
“Well - that’s... I can’t do anything about it. Who are you?”  
“Sensei Wu. And you can do plenty. There are others like you Jay.”  
“Listen, I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”  
“No.” Wu looked at Violet again. “Is this your sister?”  
“My daughter.”  
Wu nodded slowly.  
“If Ninjago is destroyed, she’ll be caught in the crossfire.”  
“Fuck off.” Jay flared. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you have no right to come into my home and threaten my daughter.”  
“It isn’t a threat Jay. I need you.”  
“You are some stranger, who’s just waltzed into a junkyard, spouting some shit about how the world’s endangered, and for some reason I have something to do with it? Get real.”  
Wu stared at Jay. And something inside him stirred. A small instinct that told him the old man was right.  
“You’re senile.” Jay muttered.  
“And you’re strong.”  
“I can’t leave my daughter.”  
“You can visit her.”  
“She’s only one year old, I’m not going.”  
The back and forth continued, Wu breaking down Jay’s arguments over and over.  
He was slowly being convinced.  
“I - let me think about it. Okay? You’re asking me to uproot my whole life and become some kinda hero because of something I can’t control. Do you have a number? I’ll text you if I decide to say yes.”  
“I’ll know.”  
And Wu walked off.

Jay had a lengthy discussion with his parents.  
They thought he should go. They listed many reasons.  
“I’m scared.” Jay admitted. “I don’t know why he wants me.”  
Edna patted Jay’s hand.  
“Yes. You do. We all do.”  
Jay nodded slowly.  
“Violet... she - I don’t want to leave her.”  
“She’ll be okay Jay. I’m sure you’ll be able to see her as much as you want.”  
Jay bit his lip as he stared at his baby girl.  
“I love you so much.” He mumbles into her hair.”  
She babbled in return, the only noticeable word being “mama”, and that was Jay, and it hurt.

Jay left a week later, Wu arriving by happenstance it seemed, just as Jay hefted a bag onto his shoulder.  
“It seems you have decided.”  
Jay nodded, cuddling Violet close.  
“Are you ready to go?”  
“Give me a minute.” Wu did so, wandering off to greet Ed and Edna.  
Jay looked at Violet.  
“I love you so much. So so much sweetheart. And I really don’t want to leave you. Mommy loves you so much. He does. And I’m gonna sneak away whenever I can. I don’t want to be away from you for too long.”  
Violet blinked, before responding with some nonsense gobbledegook, with occasional “mama”s peppered in.  
Jay kissed her forehead, before handing her over to his mother.  
“I’ll visit whenever I can. I love you.”  
After a returned affection, Wu started walking away. And Jay was compelled to follow.  
“I don’t think you should tell the others of your child.”  
“I don’t want to.”  
Wu nodded.  
“A wise decision.”

Except as time went on, Jay felt more and more affectionate for his team mates. Arguably, they were family.  
Kai was hotheaded, impulsive and brash. Jay adored him, he was funny, and good company, and genuinely caring when he wanted to be.  
Kai’s sister Nya was also with them. She was sweet, if not stubborn, and Jay felt rather warmly about her, although somehow it had been misconstrued as a crush by everyone. He didn’t know if he should correct them.  
Zane, who they’d come to find out was a nindroid, and encouraged him to welcome that side of himself, was calm, a steady head, with a lighter side so rare that it caught everyone off guard when it came out. Not to mention how great he can cook.  
Lloyd had been recruited quite a while after the originals had joined. He was burdened with the weight of his fathers sins, but still managed to be optimistic. Jay could respect him for that.  
And Cole. Cole, strong, pretty boy Cole. Cole who had smiles that could light up a room, Cole who Jay had relied on time and time again, never being let down. Cole, who was brilliant, and witty, and so fiercely loyal.  
At least, until Nya had kissed Jay’s cheek after a battle. He’d been blunt, almost spiteful, ignoring Jay to no end.  
It was infuriating. Jay didn’t like Nya. Jay didn’t want a relationship. A relationship for Jay wasn’t just with him. It was with his daughter, he needed a partner to be reliable for his kid, and after four years of knowing these people, Jay didn’t know how he was supposed to drop the bombshell.  
Four years.  
Four years of going out and seeing his daughter under various guises. Four years of watching her grow up from a distance.  
Sure it was weekly, more if Jay could manage it, but it wasn’t the same.  
Jay wanted to be with Violet, properly, god knows how she feels about only seeing her mom every so often.  
It was a lot of guilt that filled him every time he snuck out. For not telling his friends, for not being able to spend as much time as he wanted with Violet, for having to have his parents deal with her most of the time.  
Yet, Violet still seemed overjoyed every time Jay approached. Five years old, and absolutely wonderful.  
Jay would pick her up and spin her, affection spilling out of him, listening intently as she talked, about school, about friendships, about passions.  
Jay had gone out of his way to be there the day she started school.  
It took Wu a lot of convincing, as well as an elaborate excuse as to where the fuck he was going so early on a Monday morning.  
But Jay didn’t want Violet to go without him there to wave her off.  
And no one seemed suspicious.

“I don’t like you!” Jay sputtered out in front of everyone. “Sure, you’re pretty, but I’m not into you. I’m not into girls.”  
Nya squinted at him.  
“Oh.”  
Jay felt bad, as Nya looked at the floor, flushing.  
“Sorry. I - this has gone on too long.”  
Nya had been attempting to wrangle a kiss out of him, in an effort to piss off Kai.  
“No, no, it’s - sorry for pushing it.”  
“You’re gay?” Kai asked.  
“Uh, yeah. Could you not tell?”  
“Well I mean, just because you radiate twink energy doesn’t allow for assumptions.” Jay snorted at Zane’s words.  
“Never change my dude. Never change.”  
Everyone seemed welcoming. And for the first time in ages, Cole smiles at Jay. Properly.  
Jay tries not to focus on his thumping heart.

“Can I tell you something?”  
Jay’s pretty sure he knows what Cole is about to say, and he’s unsure if he can deal with it. Unsure if he’s ready. But he nods.  
“Jay. You’re really good looking. Like, super hot. But not just that, you’re also insanely amazing. Like, personality wise. And I guess this is me asking you out. On a date. If you’d like to.”  
He should say no.  
Cole should know about Violet before getting into a relationship with him.  
It wasn’t fair to Cole to not give him that information.  
But Jay nods anyway, almost out of his own control.  
Because if there’s anything that Jay wants for himself, it’s a chance with the guy who looks at Jay like he’s everything.  
And his mother had told him to do something for himself for a change.

Jay didn’t want to stop dating Cole. He knew eventually everything would get messy, but he couldn’t stop himself from falling in love.  
Because Cole was so fucking different. So different from anything Jay had had in a relationship.  
He was caring, and constantly making sure Jay was okay with every single move he made, and there wasn’t a doubt in Jay’s mind that Cole loved him.  
With Taylor, Jay has debated it. Whether or not the shitbag had actually loved him, or rather just using another method of manipulation.  
As Jay got older, he was more and more aware of everything awful in that relationship.  
He wasn’t angry at himself for staying. Sometimes, sure, he mentally berates himself for flinching at nothing, because it was so ingrained into him.  
But not for staying. Jay had been young. Too young. And he wasn’t about to blame himself for what Taylor had did.  
Cole was everything Jay had wanted. He’d sometimes dreamed of a knight saving him from Taylor, a handsome stranger giving Jay everything Taylor hadn’t.  
Cole was that dream.  
And Jay felt bad that he was hiding his greatest source of joy from Cole.

“Jay. You ever think about kids?”  
Jay felt himself tense in Cole’s arms.  
“What?”  
“You know. Kids. Of our own maybe. I mean, you’re a carrier.”  
Jay fell very silent.  
“Oh. Don’t worry then. It’s okay! I don’t necessarily want them, I guess. Just wanted to know where you stood on the thought.”  
Jay’s heart quickened.  
“There’s a lot I’m not telling you.” He whispered.  
“You say that a lot. It’s still okay. When you’re ready.”  
Cole always did that. He never asked. He was too nice.  
Jay hesitated.  
“I have a daughter.” He mumbled.  
Cole was very, very quiet.  
“Sorry for not saying anything. I’m scared that if word gets out that one of the ninja... I don’t want her to get hurt.”  
“Her father...?”  
“I don’t know where he is. I don’t care.”  
“How, um, how old is she?”  
“She’s six next month.”  
“Six? Jesus, you had her... you had her young.”  
“Mm.”  
“Who’s looking after her? I’m assuming you’re still in contact.”  
“My parents.”  
“And all those days you’ve gone out over the years?”  
“Yeah. I miss her so much. All the time.”  
“Okay.”  
“Okay?”  
“Yeah, as in, okay, you have a kid so I’m assuming that I have to take up a father position if I want to be with you.”  
“Oh. You don’t... it’s okay if you-”  
“I’m not about to dump you over a child.”  
“She might not - I haven’t told Violet about us. She knows of you. She asks where I go, so I tell her. I don’t know how I would... and the others. They-!”  
“Hey. It’s alright Jay. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

Jay told them in the morning.  
Reactions weren’t negative.  
Except they wanted to meet her.  
“I - Us as a group is noticeable. If anyone- my baby girl... she - I’m not putting her in danger.”  
“If she lived here we could all keep an eye on her!”  
“What? Live here?”  
Jay thought about Violet in the training area. She could get hurt so easily. No, no, here would be bad.  
“There’s not enough room.” Jay lied.  
“Sure there is! You and Cole have basically moved in together in the same room. So one of yours is free.”  
“Speaking of Cole, dude, you’re a dad now!”  
Jay was getting increasingly stressed out. Too fast, everything was going too fast.  
Cole took one look at him, before clearing his throat.  
“Guys. I think we all need to just chill out a little bit. Okay? However Jay wants to go about protecting his daughter, that’s up to him. It’s not fair for us to project what we want.”  
Jay glances at Cole.  
Yeah. Violet was going to love him. She’d recently asked a lot about Jay’s friends. And her absence of a father.  
Cole seemed up for it. Cole seemed like he was willing to step up and co-parent.  
“It would be nice for me to get to see her all the time.” He mumbled. “Maybe she should come here. Just for a little bit at first. I don’t want to overwhelm her. I can introduce you all. And, um, I’ll figure out safety stuff as we go.”  
The ninja looked excited, beginning to exchange theories on what Violet would be like. And Cole pressed his lips to Jay’s cheek. A reassurance.

Jay wanted her to meet Cole first. So they went, just the two of them, to the junkyard to bring her to the dojo.  
“Mommy!” A small body latched onto Jay.  
He picked her up and kissed her cheeks, cuddling her close before swinging her in a circle.  
“Hey baby girl. How’ve you been? I’ve missed you.”  
“Missed you too! I getted a star award for being good in class. Come see, come see.”  
“You got a star award? Woah, I’m so proud of you! But before I have a look, can I introduce you to someone?”  
Violet looked around, eyes locking on Cole.  
“Who’s he?” She whispered.  
“This is Cole. He’s my boyfriend.”  
Violet studied him.  
“My daddy?”  
“Um, well, kind of? He’s not the man who helped make you. But, he does want to look after you! He, um, he can be your daddy if you want him to. Right Cole?”  
“Yeah. That’s right. Hey Violet. Your mom’s told me a lot about you. I’m excited to get to know you.”  
Violet looked at Jay. “Safe?”  
Jay’s heart thumped. He’d given her many a talking to on strangers, and safety, and danger, and how much he wanted to protect her from all of that.  
“Safe.” Jay nodded.  
Violet then smiled at Cole, reassured.  
“Hello. I’m Violet. But sometimes I’m called Vi. You can called me Vi if you want.”  
Jay glanced warily at Cole. The earth ninja nodded.  
“Do you want me to call you Vi?”  
“Not yet.” She mumbled.  
“Then I won’t call you Vi yet. Wanna show me around?”

Violet moved in a month later, a couple of days after she turned six.  
She enjoyed running through the halls, and seemed to have a good time wandering about.  
She also adored Cole.

“She called me daddy.” Cole whispered one night. He’d been chosen to put her to bed, at special request of Violet.  
“Oh. Is that okay?”  
“More than. Much more than. Is it okay to say I love her?”  
“Obviously. You’re her daddy.”  
Cole smiled into Jay’s shoulder with a sniff.

It’s when Jay got pregnant again that things got a bit sticky. Of course, he was excited to have Cole’s baby. Excited to have a child with someone he knew he could rely on.  
But for starters, they weren’t trying. Cole had seemed so stressed out over getting Violet to like him, Jay wasn’t sure he could handle another baby, not after how long it’s taken to get Cole comfortable with Violet and vice versa. And then, there was Violet herself. She knew Cole wasn’t her biological father. Would there be jealousy or upset if she knew that there was going to be a baby that was Cole’s?  
Jay sighed as he stared at the pregnancy test, getting thrown back into a memory he’d repressed.  
It wasn’t going to be like that.  
Cole knocked on their bathroom door then.  
“Babe? You in there? You didn’t respond when I called out just now. Everything okay?”  
Jay took a deep breath.  
“Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s fine. I - come in.”  
Cole pushed the door open, concerned when he saw Jay sitting on the floor.  
“You alright?”  
“Mhm. Sit.” Jay patted the surface next to him.  
“Okie dokie.”  
Jay lay his head onto Cole’s shoulder, and handed him the test.  
“Wha - oh holy shit.”  
“Is this good?” Jay had to know.  
“Yeah. Of course.”

They didn’t tell Violet. Not for a long time, not until they could be sure the baby was healthy.  
She’d noticed though. Of course she had. Violet was smart, and it was also kind of obvious, what with the way Jay’s bump was growing.  
“You’re getting fat?” She asked.  
“Don’t be rude to mom.” Cole called from the bathroom, about to shower.  
“I am quite big now, aren’t I?” Jay moved a hand along his 18-week bump.  
“I think you’re having a baby.” Violet was seven. She knew the birds and the bees now. Jay gazed at his little girl. Not so little, really. She was growing up.  
“How would you feel about that?”  
“I want a baby sister.” Violet’s fingers tiptoed across Jay’s bump.  
“Oh yeah? What about a baby brother?”  
“I guess that’s fine.”  
Jay snorted.  
“Mm. Yeah, I am having a baby. Is that alright?”  
“Yeah! I’m gonna be the bestest big sister!”  
“You are. You really are. And you know that babies take a lot of time right? But even if we are giving lots of attention to the baby, we still love you both the same alright?”  
“Is Cole this baby’s real dad?”  
Jay tensed. That was the first time she’d used Cole’s name in a long time.  
“Yeah. He is. But he’s still your dad!”  
“Will he love the baby more?”  
“No. No, of course not. You’re both my kids.” Cole ruffled Violet’s hair, leaning in to kiss Jay’s cheek. “How about you name the baby? Would you like that?”  
Violet nodded eagerly.

She chose the name Riley for her little brother.  
It fit, although Jay felt guilty for all the time he was focusing on his newborn son.  
Violet didn’t seem to mind. But he knew his little girl. Of course she did. She minded very much.  
“You wanna hold him?” Jay would ask frequently, a desperate measure to include her.  
Violet would comply, with Jay and Cole supervising as she rocked the baby once or twice before giving him back.  
Cole looked upset every time she would run off.

“You’re not my dad!”  
Jay had watched Cole’s face crumple as the 14 year old’s venomously glared at him.  
“I - Violet, that’s not -”  
“You’re just some fucking guy who my mom fell in love with. We both know I’m not yours, and you will never, never, love me the same as you love him!”  
“Don’t talk to your fath - don’t talk to him like that.” Jay snapped.  
Cole had been on thin ice with Violet lately. She’d gotten more rebellious in her teen years, and Cole had very much taken the brunt of it.  
He’d just tried to ask her how her day at school had been.  
“Mom, let me meet my real dad.”  
“No. Okay? I don’t know where he is. And even if I did, I wouldn’t want him anywhere near you.”  
“Why not? I have a right to know who my father is!”  
“You won’t get to know!”  
“Why? It’s not fair! Riley knows his dad!”  
“Cole’s a much better parent than your biological father could ever be.”  
“You don’t know that. You never gave him a chance.”  
“I don’t want to talk about him Violet.”  
“You never let me do anything I want! I’m going to find my dad, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”  
“Please don’t.” Jay couldn’t help the crack in his voice.  
It may have been 14 years since he’d seen Taylor. But Jay doubted he could ever face him.  
“Violet. You’re upsetting your mom. Why don’t we talk about this by ourselves?”  
“I don’t want to talk to you.”  
Cole was getting upset too.  
“Babe. Why don’t you go see how Riley’s doing?”  
Cole nodded slowly. “I love you Violet.”  
Violet didn’t reply, focusing solely on Jay.  
When Cole retreated, Jay started speaking.  
“Vi. Cole adores you. You don’t need your ‘real’ dad. I need you to know that.”  
“I want to know him. And I’m not Cole’s, and we all know it.”  
“You may as well be! You were so close when you were little. Cole didn’t hesitate to step up and be a parent. He loves you so much. So do I.”  
“Riley gets to meet his dad. He gets to know his dad.”  
“Cole is as much your dad as he is Riley’s.”  
Violet didn’t reply.  
“Sweetheart. Please. I love you. And I’m so scared that you and Cole are going to get distant. He has been there for you from the moment he met you. You know the other day, he was telling me how proud of you he was? Cole knows first hand that your dancing is ridiculously hard, and we’re both so incredibly impressed with you.”  
“What does Cole know about dancing?”  
“Cole’s dad was a dancer. Remember? You think Cole didn’t have lessons?”  
Violet smirked.  
“What kind of dance?”  
“Ballet, tap, ballroom. Most of it. He studied hip hop himself.”  
“Hip hop?” Violet snorted. “You’re so old.”  
“Uh, I’m only 30 thanks.”  
“I think Cole got me into dancing. I kind of remember dancing with him. Is that a thing that happened when I was younger?”  
Jay cracked a smile. “Lots. Lots of dancing.”  
“How come you never joined in?”  
“I did sometimes. But most of the dancing was when I was pregnant with Riley.”  
Violet nodded slowly. “How come you never had another one? Is it because of me?”  
“Two is enough, actually.”  
“Is Cole - is dad mad?”  
Jay smiled softly.  
“No. He’s just worried that you don’t like him.”  
“I like him. He’s cool. Cooler than you.”  
Jay rolled his eyes.  
“Watch it, young lady.”  
“I should apologise to him.”  
The lightning ninja nodded.

“Riley! Stop it! Mom, Riley’s being annoying!”  
When Violet turned 16, Riley started to trail after her everywhere, desperate from attention from his stubborn older sister. She rebuffed him again and again.  
“I’m trying to hang out with my friends, can you go away?!”  
And Riley would sulk, despite Jay and Cole’s reassurances that Violet would spend time with him another day.  
Which is why it was so heartwarming to see them together, playing.  
“Oh no! Captain Riley, the Dance Demon is attacking!”  
Riley giggled as Violet spun him around.  
“Back demon! Back! Oh nooo!! I’ve been shot!”  
“I don’t have a gun.”  
“Oh, well, you shot me with your dance beams.”  
“Ah, I see. Sorry, I forgot.”  
“I’m bleeding!” Riley threw himself dramatically on the couch.  
It was one of the first furniture items they’d bought in their apartment. And it was thoroughly worn. But hey, at least the kids were having fun.  
“Hahaha! Now I, the magnificent Dance Demon have victory!”  
Riley squirmed, thinking of the next plot point.  
“No! Because I secretly have anti dance powers! Now you’re melting.”  
Violet flopped onto the floor.  
“Oh no! My evil plan has been foiled.” She stuck her tongue out after a comically long death noise.  
Riley looked at her for a bit.  
“Violet. Is the Dance Demon dead?”  
Violet didn’t reply.  
“Violet. Violet?” Riley sounded slightly distressed, and Jay decided maybe this needed to end.  
“Violet. Your brother’s getting upset.”  
Violet opened one eye.  
“Ugh, you ruin all the fun.” She blew a raspberry at Jay, before turning back to Riley. “Look out! It’s the evil Mom Monster. And behind him... the Dad Destroyer!”  
Riley mock-screamed.  
So they were playing too now? Okay then.  
“Mwahaha! You better run away! If I catch you, you’ll have to have so many cuddles!”  
Jay moved towards his children, as they squealed and started to run.  
“Not so fast Captain Riley and Countess Violet! You have to also escape me, your dastardly dad. If you’re caught, you’ll be tickled!”  
Riley and Violet were chased down by the ninja for a while, before a truce was called for dinner.

Even after many conversations about why she shouldn’t, Violet still wanted to know more about her biological dad. Except she’d changed tactic. And approached Cole.  
“Vi asked me about her father. Well, um, the one that isn’t me.”  
Jay tensed.  
“Did you say anything?”  
“I told her that it’s up to you what she knows and doesn’t know. She wanted his name. So I said I don’t know.”  
“Mm. Are you mad that you don’t know anything about him?”  
“I know the important stuff. I know what he did to you. I don’t think I want anymore.”  
Jay shifted.  
“She’s 18 soon. Do you think I should...?”  
“I don’t know. Do you want to?”

It was a week after Violet’s 18th that Jay sat her down.  
“I - if you want to know about your biological dad... I’ll answer as much as I can.”  
Violet studied Jay, and the box he had in his hands.  
“Really?”  
“Mhm.”  
“Who is he?”  
Jay sat down and took a drink of his tea.  
“His name is Taylor Rodrigo. I met him when I was 14.”  
“Did he leave after you found out about me?”  
“No. I left him.”  
“I could’ve known my dad? Why did you leave?”  
Jay didn’t want to say it. He looked at Violet. She wants answers.  
“He hurt me. A lot.”  
“Oh.”  
“I needed you to be safe. So I got out.”  
“Does he know about me?”  
“No. I don’t think so.”  
Violet drummed the table.  
“Does dad know? About this Taylor guy?”  
Jay nodded.  
“Has dad ever hurt...?”  
“No. Never.”  
“I’m sorry for asking about him a lot.”  
“It’s alright. You have a right to know.”  
“Mm. But it’s okay. I already have a dad.”  
“You do. And we both love you. So much.”  
“Do I ever remind you of him?”  
Jay hesitated. “Sometimes. But only glimpses.”  
Violet bit her lip.  
“Do you wish I-?” She didn’t finish the question. Jay didn’t give her the chance.  
“No. No, not in the slightest. Baby, you were a miracle. You saved me. I wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t have known how.”  
Violet stood up.  
“Thank you for telling me. I don’t want to know anymore.”  
Jay nodded.  
“Thank you for understanding.”  
Jay squeezed his daughter tightly.

Jay’s family was the most important thing to him. The drive to protect was a fierce as ever. And Jay adored every single moment, even the bad. It was his family. And it was an honour to have them.


End file.
